EPA Opposes Permit for Burbank Project

The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday recommended that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers not issue a permit to build a 129-house development on a hillside in northeast Burbank.

Harry Seraydarian, director of the EPA's Water Management Division, said in a letter to the corps that the project would have adverse geographical and environmental effects on the hillside.

The corps improperly issued a permit to developer Sherman Whitmore in March, 1988, without asking the EPA to make a determination of its effects, Seraydarian wrote.

The city of Burbank already has approved the project. According to City Atty. Douglas C. Holland, the corps will make the final decision on the project. Corps officials said they could not immediately comment on the EPA's recommendation.